The Cure For Yawning
by Kat Ducat
Summary: When Hogwarts is seized by an outbreak of yawning, Rowena knows Godric is the one behind it all. She will try anything to get rid of the curse, and Helga is there to provide help. Rowena/Helga


_A/N: Successfully written for the Pairing One Hour Challenge, History in the School Subjects Competition, the 100 Different Pairings Competition with 'yawn' and the Minor Character Boot Camp with 'kiss'._

)O(

Chaos had broken out at Hogwarts, but the man responsible did not even try to take it seriously. All lessons had been suspended and the students who should have been studying were all strolling in the halls, laughing and making faces and...yawning.

In the professors' room on the second floor, Rowena Ravenclaw paced around the central table, cursing under her breath. There was no-one who could solve the problem of the yawning; she had tried and nothing had come of it. If she couldn't do it, who could?

The door burst open and Godric (_that ignorant, foolish bastard!) _ swaggered in, giggling. His forceful presence would have dominated the room if it had not been for Rowena's temporarily stronger one. She spun on her heel and glared at him, wand out.

Before she could utter a threat or a curse however, an overpowering yawn took hold of her and she was forced to carry it out. She threw her head back, her face went slack and her temper relaxed.

When she looked back at Godric, all the fight returned to her. He was doubled over laughing, pointing at her and wheezing while he giggled.

"You-you-look so silly!" After a few tries, he managed to get the words out.

"Oh how very amusing. You really are the funniest, you know? Casting a sleeping charm over the whole castle. Not very well, I might add," she took another deep, body-shuddering yawn before continuing. "I could have sent everyone here to sleep _if _I had wanted to. The yawning impresses no-one."

"But it's so funny! You know, I saw a first-year actually passed out on the bathroom floor! Imagine."

With this last statement, Rowena's temper reached an uncontrollable level. _He should have known better than to do something so...immature! _

She strode over to where he was still laughing (_don't yawn don't yawn don't yawn)_ and slapped him into what she hoped would be sobriety. The school needed a leader at the moment but she wouldn't be able to do anything if Godric still maintained that this was a good idea. There needed to be at least two people who were committed to fixing the situation, and Salazar was nowhere in sight.

He was probably playing with his snakes again. Honestly, wasn't there anyone who was ready to take responsibility anymore? Nowadays it seemed like the whole school was resting on her shoulders. She was so tired of it all…

A yawn escaped her, but Rowena quickly covered it up with a bout of coughing. Luckily for her, Godric had yawned at the same time and was still busy flaring his nostrils for all the world to see. He had no shame.

"Pull yourself together; you're a teacher, so behave like one! Go tell the prefects to round up the students, and get them to the common rooms before any more of them fall asleep in the wrong place. It'll be better for them have some rest before tomorrow; I think we should give them double lessons to make up for today's disturbance."

"But it's not their fault! It's not fair for the students to have to work so hard. Live a little, Rowena."

"You're damn right it's not their fault. That's why you'll explain to them exactly why they're doing more lessons and that's it's all entirely _your_ doing. We all have to pay for our mistakes sometime."

"I don't regret a single minute of it."

"Then I'm sure it'll be easy to continue not regretting it when you're then one who gets detention duty for the rest of the term. Go now, the school needs you."

She turned him around and pushed him forcefully out of the room. Godric failed to make any more protests. When Rowena had her mind set on something, only an alternative that was better than what she had planned could change her mind. She was so bloody logical it infuriated him so much sometimes.

Slamming the door behind the other founder, Rowena let out the yawn she had been holding in for the whole conversation. It was all she could do for at least half a minute; she wouldn't have noticed a hippogriff if it had flown in a foot away of her.

It probably wasn't surprising then that she didn't notice a woman suddenly poke her head from under the tablecloth in the centre of the room. The woman had a warm, content face, still glowing slightly from the nap she had been taking. Helga crawled out from under the table and dusted herself off, yawning as she extracted a mouse from one of the pockets of her robe.

"Hullo Rowena. I thought I heard shouting."

"Hmm? Oh, hello. I see that Godric's charm caught you at more of a disadvantage than most others."

"I wouldn't say it was a disadvantage, no, I had a nice time. A midday nap is always calming on the nerves."

Rowena couldn't help smiling. If there was one person who could cheer her up no matter how bad the situation was, it was dear Helga. Before the founding of Hogwarts, they had spent most of their time together, experimenting with new charms in one of the many forests that seemed to surround the area.

When they had met up with Godric and Salazar however, those carefree, pleasant times had been replaced by something else entirely. It was thrilling running a school and seeing all the little witches and wizards get properly educated, yes, but she had had considerably less time to herself.

There was always some kind of problem that needed fixing and she was the only person she could trust to do it well.

"Rowena?" Helga had stepped up to her (_she's so soothingly soft-footed)_ and was gazing into the other woman's eyes with creases of worry on her face. "Do you need me to do something for you? I could make you a cup of tea…"

"There's no time for tea, I'm afraid. I've got to find a countercharm for this spell of Godric's. Knowing him, he probably made it up on the spur of the moment just to see what would happen." She yawned with a world-weary tiredness.

"I think I know a method that could stop you yawning."

"Right now, I'd go for anything." Rowena's mouth turned up at the corners at the idea that Helga could do something. She was a wonderful witch and had absolutely unparalleled skill in _established_ magic, but ready wit wasn't exactly on her list of attributes.

Before she could continue with this line of thinking however, Helga did something totally unexpected (_but definitely not unwelcome)_. She leaned in to Rowena's face and gave her a long, lingering kiss that seared that other woman's heart with a sudden passion.

When Helga finally pulled away, it was to see Rowena's eyes closed and her lips still open.

"That should do it."

"I think it has." She had no more urge to yawn, strangely enough. Maybe it was because, in her arousal, she couldn't bear to take her eyes off the other woman. The sight of Helga looking at her with those fiery eyes was too precious to lose sight of.

"I don't think I'll be able to help everyone in the castle, though. You'll have to think of something just as good."

Helga smiled sweetly before strolling out of the open door.

"I've got to look after my little Hufflepuffs. They'll be wanting reassurance."

She left Rowena standing, transfixed on the spot where she had been kissed. Really, Godric had been right.

There was nothing about this day that was worth regretting.

)O(

_Fin_


End file.
